MDD watch over the safety of ETCR competition 19.11.2020: A company at the forefront of motorsport on-track and medical services, MDD was appointed by WSC as sole supplier of E-safety services to ETCR. WSC and MDD have signed a six-year contract that includes ETCR-tailored E-safety and medical training for

A company at the forefront of motorsport on-track and medical services, MDD was appointed by WSC as sole supplier of E-safety services to ETCR.

WSC and MDD have signed a six-year contract that includes ETCR-tailored E-safety and medical training for the drivers and all the personnel who will be working on the cars, a dedicated extrication team with on-track doctor and the supply of E-safety, medical and extrication equipment.



 MDD will also act as advisor for all safety matters during the ETCR events.



The official test days that are taking place at Vallelunga give the opportunity to the MDD staff to test their equipment and rehearse safety interventions on the ETCR racing cars.




 
Thanks to the Hyundai Motorsport team for their kind cooperation



 

 
A team of five members


“Our team for the ETCR races is formed by five members, the Incident Commander, the Doctor and three Specialists of Extrication on board of two vehicles: Medical Car and Car Two. Both cars are equipped with all the tools that maybe needed during an intervention after an incident.



However, our job begins before the races with the safety briefings. We have three kinds of lectures: the marshal training, the High Voltage training and the medical and First Aid training. We do it for all the team members, because there is an MDD Medical Kit in each garage; even the truck drivers have to know about the dangers and safety precautions.



 We do separate briefings for the drivers too, because there are special measures between a normal car and a Live “red” car,” explains Incident Commander Björn Vos.




Special equipment to rescue a driver



MDD equipment for the ETCR races include items that must be at hand during all motorsport events such as grip wedges to prevent the car from moving when the rescue team is working on it, the defibrillator in case there is a cardiac arrest and a neck support, which is the first thing that is put onto the driver. However, there are other items that have been specifically conceived for working on ETCR cars, as Vos explains:



“We have rescue hooks to save a person trapped with high voltage, which is for use when one of our team touches the car without gloves, so we can grab the driver with the hook. However, we normally use ‘Class Zero’ gloves that isolate us and so it’s safe for us to work on the car and rescue the patient. We also have respirators, because if the car is on fire we have lots of smoke and so we put on our masks and our respirators to intervene, and the staff of Williams Advanced Engineering have a high-voltage meter to check if the car is live or not.



In this case we cover it with isolation matting, which is resistant to over 1000V, so we can work without touching the body of the car. It’s the safest way of getting someone out of the car and it was developed by MDD. Once the driver is out of the car, we use the ‘beanbag’ that is an inflatable vacuum mat. We lay the patient here, with a backboard, and then we remove the air so that the spine cannot move any more. It’s mandatory around the world so it’s not anything special for electric cars.”
    




 
Dealing with the high voltage


Vos and the MDD staff are eager to start working at the ETCR competitions, which opens a new chapter in their long-standing experience of rescue in motorsport events.



“Basically, these are normal race cars, but we just have to take into account the high voltage. That’s why we need to have all this extra equipment. We are a team, we respect each other and we want to do the next event all together!

That’s why MDD has developed special protocols in conjunction with WSC and the battery supplier to work on these cars. And we are very excited to be involved in ETCR. I think it’s a very nice concept with a new format. I can’t wait to see these cars alive!”






Fabio Ravaioli  Pictures: WSC/Fastclick